EMA Human Rights Blog

The Brazilian Messiah who Preaches Violence

By Kirsten NobenIn early September, the 200-year-old National Museum in Rio de Janeiro went up in flames, together with millions of natural-historical artifacts of inestimable value. Videos of the burning building went viral on Facebook and the link to current politics did not escape most of my Brazilian friends.

Brazilians
are naturally optimistic, but currently most of the people feeling this
optimism are Jair Bolsonaro’s supporters. The extreme right-wing candidate will
more than likely become the country’s president this Sunday. According to the
most recent polls, Fernando Haddad of the Workers’ Party (PT) will have to hope
for a miracle if he still wants to win the elections.

On social media, the elections are frequently commented on, and pro-Bolsonaro supporters do not shun raw language. Statements such as “the Brazilian people have finally woken up and are coming to the streets to clean up the country” or “the criminal PT” appear regularly on my newsfeed.

The
Haddad voters, say anti-Bolsonaro voters, are slowly becoming desperate. A
Brazilian acquaintance said (only half-jokingly) that she would be forced to
become a ‘refugee in Europe’ if Bolsonaro made it. Seldom have elections in
Brazil – only a 33 years young democracy – been so polarizing, and created such
unprecedented tensions between friends and families.

“Companies have invested millions to distribute fake news in favor of Bolsonaro.”

Social
media has also had a crucial role in the election campaign. Last week, the
respected newspaper Folha de São Paulo unveiled the existence of illegal
Whatsapp campaigns: companies have invested millions to distribute fake news in
favor of Bolsonaro. Whatsapp is hugely prevalent in Brazil and Bolsonaro and
his team have thrived on this popularity. In several false reports, his rival
Haddad was portrayed as a communist who wants to change Brazil into Cuba, convert children to homosexuality
and has plans to rig the voting machines. The Brazilian Electoral
Tribunal and the federal police have opened an investigation into these false Whatsapp
campaigns, but it will be too late to stop the Bolsonaro phenomenon.

The World Cup, but Different

Bolsonaro
reaps what he sows. During one of his rallies on the street he was stabbed by a
radical leftist activist. Instead of stopping, he continued the rest of his
campaign from his hospital bed by sending countless tweets to the world every
day (much like another divisive politician we are all too familiar with),
conducting Facebook streams and participating in live interviews. Of course, this
only made him more popular. He avoids normal democratic practices, such as a
public debate with Haddad, due to ‘not having recovered’ from his stab wound.
Not only does this make him untouchable, it also works to his advantage: the
populist statements still get to his supporters and fake news has free rein.

Recently
Bolsonaro sent a live video message from his safe garden into the world in
which he swore to send the left wing criminals of the Workers’ Party “overseas”’ or “put them in jail”. His
message of “We are the majority. We are the true Brazil. Together with this
Brazilian people we will build a new nation” was cheered on by thousands of his supporters in São Paulo
shouting: “Legend! Legend! Legend!” while dressed in Brazilian flags and colours
– as if it was once again the World Cup. His political opponents were left
unnerved and outraged.

Everything Better than the Workers’ Party

Bolsonaro’s
aversion to democracy is frightening. Apart from generally praising the
dictatorship and its dubious practices, he also wants to liberate arms laws
and, with the help of local militias, give the army carte blanche in the
favelas. His voters are fine with that.

Every
year, 5,000 people are victim to police brutality in Brazil. Bolsonaro’s policies
will inevitably lead to more violence and blood in the streets. Already, there
have been several reports showing that the violence during the election
campaign has increased, even resulting in two killings, and that most of the
perpetrators are pro-Bolsonaro.

“His followers derive from all parts of society.”

His
followers derive from all parts of society: young and old, university graduates
to street workers, entrepreneurs and housewives, and followers of conservative
Evangelical churches. Even football legend Ronaldinho has expressed his support
for Bolsonaro.

The
hatred and envy towards Haddad’s party, which in recent years has been plagued
by enormous corruption scandals (ex-president Lula da Silva is in prison) is
huge. To many, the Workers’ Party is simply a symbol for everything wrong with Brazil.
Brazilians demand change and their messiah appears as Bolsonaro – ironically
fitting given that his middle name is ‘Messias’.

Under
the pretext of “everything better than the Worker’s
Party”, there is a real chance that tomorrow Brazil will find itself with an
authoritarian leader, who poses a real threat to democracy. Unfortunately, the
usual Brazilian optimism seems to momentarily have been replaced by nationalism
and hate rhetoric.